Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own
glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:2, 3).
"If our identity in Christ is the key to wholeness," you may ask, "why do so
many believers have difficulty with self-worth, spiritual growth and maturity?"
Because we have been deceived by the devil. Our true identity in Christ has been
distorted by the great deceiver himself.
This deception was brought home to me a few years ago when I was counseling a
Christian girl who was the victim of satanic oppression. I asked her, "Who are
you?"
"I'm evil," she answered.
"You're not evil. How can a child of God be evil? Is that how you see yourself?"
She nodded.
Now she may have done some evil things, but she wasn't evil. She was basing her
identity on the wrong equation. She was letting Satan's accusations of her
behavior influence her perception of identity instead of letting her
identity--as a child of God in Christ--influence her behavior.
Sadly, a great number of Christians are trapped in the same pit. We fail, so we
see ourselves as failures which only causes us to fail more. We sin, so we see
ourselves as sinners which only causes us to sin more. We've been sucked into
the devil's futile equation. We've been tricked into believing that what we do
makes us what we are. And that false belief sends us into a tailspin of
hopelessness and defeat.
Don't be deceived. You are not a product of what you do or don't do. You are a
product of who you are in Christ and His work on the cross. You are not saved by
how you behave but by how you believe. God's Word assures us, "Beloved, now we
are children of God. . . . And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies
himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2, 3).
Dr. Anderson, Freedom in Christ and Harvest House Publishers
www.ficm.org
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.